3. Guy Burgess entered into the Soviet’s service at around the same time as Philby
In order to infiltrate British intelligence, the goal of Guy Burgess’s KGB handlers in the mid-1930s, their agent had to reinvent his public image. A member of the Communist Party during his days at Cambridge, Burgess denounced communism in 1935. Most of his former colleagues reacted with dismay, though Burgess informed some, including Philby, that his disavowal was merely a ruse. Joining the BBC, Burgess used social connections to identify guests for broadcasts covering the pressing issues of the day. Winston Churchill, then a Member of Parliament, declined one such invitation. Burgess ingratiated himself with British agents and security personnel. He gained sufficient trust to serve as an information conduit between British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French President Edouard Daladier in 1938.
Following his dismissal from the SOE, Burgess returned to the BBC and later used his social contacts to join the Foreign Office as a press officer. His former status as a Communist Party member, along with his heavy drinking, sexual activities, and dissipated lifestyle all designated him as a security risk. However, as with all of the Cambridge 5, his social standing and class status prevented him from being subjected to a background investigation over his security clearances. In class-conscious Britain, the word of a gentleman outweighed the interrogatories of mere policemen. Throughout World War II and in the years which followed, Burgess provided the Soviets with intelligence regarding Britain’s and the Allies’ plans, operations, and strategies. His information allowed Stalin to approach the 1945 Yalta Conference fully apprised of the American and British plans for a post-war world. Stalin put the knowledge to good use, from a Soviet perspective.